I. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an air treatment plant for foodstuffs, comprising a housing, an elongate trough provided therein for receiving the foodstuff to be treated, a heat exchanger and a fan assembly for producing an air flow circulating through the heat exchanger, up through the trough and back to the heat exchanger, the bottom of the trough comprising a foraminated conveyor belt.
The invention relates more specifically to a freezing plant, but is also applicable to other air treatment plants, e.g. for cooling, drying and heating. In the freezing plant, the heat exchanger is a cooling-coil battery.
II. Prior Art
In known freezing plants of this type, problems are often met with in that foodstuff particles, or accompanying water, freeze on to the top side of the belt and build up a layer of ice thereon. This ice layer will of course adversely affect the air flow through the conveyor belt and, hence, the agitation or fluidisation of the foodstuff particles in the trough. As a result, the operation of the freezing plant must be stopped more frequently than desirable.
Similar problems of layers of foodstuff or other matter building up on the conveyor belt may also arise in other air treatment plants for foodstuffs.